Alastair Campbell, Downing Street's former director of communications, insisted today that he had been telling the truth about the Kelly affair from the outset, while the BBC "from the chairman and director general down" had not done the same.

Mr Campbell, in a televised statement arranged by Downing Street, said that the BBC's allegations were grave because they had been broadcast by an organisation that was supposed to have a reputation for accuracy and fairness. He hoped the media would learn lessons from the affair, he added.

Mr Campbell said: "What the report shows very clearly is this: the Prime Minister told the truth, the Government told the truth, I told the truth.

"The BBC, from the chairman and director-general down, did not. Today the stain on the integrity of the Prime Minister and the Government has been removed.

He said that Lord Hutton made clear today that the allegations made by the Today programme and the Mail on Sunday were of the utmost gravity and "were untrue."

Mr Blair's former director of communications and strategy, who resigned last year, said that it meant "a great deal" to his family and former staff that the judge had reached that conclusion.

He praised the BBC's reputation and said that "it's precisely because these allegations were broadcast by the BBC" that they had such effect, both at home and abroad.

Mr Campbell continued: "I find it hard to imagine a more serious allegation.

"It has led to months of sustained questioning of my honesty and integrity in Parliament and the media and I am grateful to Lord Hutton for the clarity with which he has rejected the allegations against me.

Mr Campbell said: "It was a fundamental attack on the integrity of the intelligence agencies and the entire Government."

He added that there were often false reports in the media, which the Government did not strive to correct, but these allegations were "so wrong and so damaging they had to be challenged".

He said: "I no longer work for the government but I do feel compelled to say this: if the government had faced the level of criticism that today Lord Hutton has directed to the BBC, there would clearly have been resignations by now – several resignations at several levels."

He added: "I have accepted on several occasions that I became too angry." But he said that his anger had not affected the BBC's responsibility "to look properly at my complaint" and went on to say "had they done so, these events might have taken a very different turn".

Mr Campbell said he had been "on both sides of the fence" as a journalist and a government employee.

He stressed that there were "many good British journalists" but went on to say: "Having been in both journalism and politics, I would say this: if the public knew the truth about politicians, they would be pleasantly surprised. If the public knew the truth about the way certain sections of our media operate, they would be absolutely horrified.

"It's in the interest of everyone that the many good journalists stand up against the bad."

Mr Campbell said that he would be conducting a series of TV interviews over the next few days, beginning on BBC television's Newsnight programme this evening. He added that he hoped "the media will learn lessons from this report" and adopt a "more honest" approach.

News and comment were becoming "fused", he said, but added: "The judgments passed by the media along the way do not matter. Lord Hutton's judgment matters, in my view, a great deal."

He said that all he ever wanted was an acknowledgement that the allegations broadcast on the BBC were false. "Once the BBC decided to stand by its story, it was bound to be a difficult and abrasive process."

Mr Campbell also said that his decision to leave Downing Street had nothing to do with the Kelly affair. He said it was the right move for him and his family. But added that he would continue to make the case for the Prime Minister who had been the victim of a "vicious campaign to seek to undermine public trust in him".

The public should remember the report next time there was a media storm, he added.

Mr Campbell ignored reporters' questions about whether he was responsible for leaking sections of Lord Hutton's report to The Sun, which the newspaper published this morning.

Asked why No 10 had set up Mr Campbell's televised statement, one of the Downing Street officials present said: "Because when the accusations were made, Alastair was employed by the Government as the Prime Minister's director of communications and strategy and therefore it's only proper we facilitate his statement."

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